Electric vehicle charging system using charging robots

Abstract

One example provides an electric vehicle charging system including a system controller to communicate with a plurality of electric vehicles, each electric vehicle requesting a charging operation to charge a vehicle battery pack of the electric vehicle, the system controller to generate a charging schedule including an order in which the electric vehicles are to be charged based on a plurality of charging factors, and to select from the charging schedule an electric vehicle for charging. The charging system includes at least one autonomous charging robot having a charging battery pack, the charging bot to drive to the selected electric vehicle as directed by the system controller, the charging robot including an interface unit to automatically couple to a charging port of the selected electric vehicle and charge the vehicle battery pack from the charging battery pack.

1 . (canceled) 
     
     
         2 . An electric vehicle charging system comprising:
 a system controller;   an autonomous charging robot having a charging battery pack, where the autonomous robot communicates with the system controller for selectively charging an electric vehicle requesting a charge using the charging battery pack.   
     
     
         3 . The electric vehicle charging system of  claim 2 , comprising:
 where the charging robot drives to the selected electric vehicle as directed by the system controller, the charging robot including an interface unit to automatically couple to a charging port of the selected electric vehicle.   
     
     
         4 . The electric vehicle charging system of  claim 2 , comprising:
 where the system controller communicates with a plurality of electric vehicles, each electric vehicle requesting a charging operation to charge a vehicle battery pack of the electric vehicle, the system controller to:
 generate a charging schedule including an order in which the electric vehicles are to be charged based on a plurality of charging factors; and 
 select from the charging schedule the electric vehicle for charging. 
   
     
     
         5 . The electric vehicle charging system of  claim 2 , comprising:
 where the charging battery pack is an exchangeable battery pack.   
     
     
         6 . The electric vehicle charging system of  claim 2 , comprising:
 the autonomous charging robot comprising:
 the charging battery pack; 
 an on-board bot control unit; 
 a bot interface unit; and 
 a battery powered drive system; and 
   where the battery powered drive system is controlled by the bot control unit to autonomously drive and maneuver the charging robot between a battery pack charging facility and the electric vehicle requesting a charge.   
     
     
         7 . The electric vehicle charging system of  claim 6 , comprising:
 where the charging robot automatically couples the charging battery to the electric vehicle requesting a charge via the bot interface unit and automatically charges the electric vehicle via the charging battery.   
     
     
         8 . The electric vehicle charging system of  claim 7 , the charging robot comprising a charging arm for automatically coupling the charging robot to an electric vehicle charging port. 
     
     
         9 . The electric vehicle charging system of  claim 8 , where the charging arm is a controllable articulating arm. 
     
     
         10 . The electric vehicle charging system of  claim 6 , the charging robot further comprising a DC-DC converter and a DC-AC converter for converting the battery voltage to an electric vehicle target charging voltage. 
     
     
         11 . An electric vehicle charging system comprising:
 a system controller to communicate with a plurality of electric vehicles, each electric vehicle requesting a charging operation to charge a vehicle battery pack of the electric vehicle, the system controller to:
 generate a charging schedule including an order in which the electric vehicles are to be charged based on a plurality of charging factors; and 
 select from the charging schedule an electric vehicle for charging; and 
   at least one autonomous charging robot having a charging battery pack, the charging robot to drive to the selected electric vehicle as directed by the system controller, the charging robot including a bot interface unit to automatically couple to a charging port of the selected electric vehicle and charge the vehicle battery pack from the charging battery pack.   
     
     
         12 . The electric vehicle charging system of  claim 11 , comprising:
 a charging interface unit configured to couple to one or more electric vehicle charging ports; and where the autonomous robot couples to the electric vehicle via the charging interface unit thereby providing a single connection point between the charging robot and the electric vehicle charging ports.   
     
     
         13 . The electric vehicle charging system of  claim 12 , comprising:
 the charging interface unit comprising a bot coupling mechanism that allows the charging robot to automatically couple to the charging interface unit.   
     
     
         14 . The electric vehicle charging system of  claim 13 , comprising a charging cable extending from the charging interface unit for coupling the charging interface unit to an electric vehicle requesting a charging. 
     
     
         15 . The electric vehicle charging system of  claim 13 , where the bot coupling mechanism includes a controllable door for allowing controlled access to the charging interface unit by a charging robot. 
     
     
         16 . The electric vehicle charging system of  claim 13 , where the charging interface unit includes a control system that wirelessly communicates with the system controller. 
     
     
         17 . The electric vehicle charging system of  claim 13 , the charging interface unit comprising multiple charging cables extending from the charging interface unit for coupling a charging robot to multiple electric vehicles requesting a charge via the charging interface unit. 
     
     
         18 . The electric vehicle charging system of  claim 13 , comprising a unique identifier associated with the charging interface unit that allows the charging robot to locate the charging interface unit and mechanically couple to the robot coupling mechanism. 
     
     
         19 . The electric vehicle charging system of  claim 13 , comprising where the charging interface unit has a top surface, and the coupling mechanism is accessible at the top surface, and where during a charging operation the charging robot is positioned over the charging interface unit and electrically coupled to the coupling mechanism. 
     
     
         20 . The electric vehicle charging system of  claim 19 , where the coupling mechanism is a magnetic port and the charging robot includes a bot interface unit that is an electromagnetic coupling device that electromagnetically couples the charging bot to the coupling mechanism magnetic port. 
     
     
         21 . An electric vehicle charging system comprising:
 a system controller;   an autonomous charging robot having a charging battery pack, where the autonomous robot communicates with the system controller for selectively charging an electric vehicle using the charging battery pack, where the charging robot drives to the selected electric vehicle as directed by the system controller, the charging robot including an interface unit to automatically couple to a charging port of the selected electric vehicle,   where the system controller communicates with a plurality of electric vehicles, each electric vehicle requesting a charging operation to charge a vehicle battery pack of the electric vehicle, the system controller to:
 generate a charging schedule including an order in which the electric vehicles are to be charged based on a plurality of charging factors; and 
 select from the charging schedule the electric vehicle for charging; 
   the autonomous charging robot comprising:
 the charging battery pack; 
 an on-board bot control unit; 
 a bot interface unit; and 
 a battery powered drive system; and 
   where the battery powered drive system is controlled by the bot control unit to autonomously drive and maneuver the charging robot between a battery pack charging facility and the electric vehicle requesting a charge; and   where the battery pack charging facility includes a battery rack configured to automatically unload a depleted charging battery pack and automatically load a charged charging battery pack onto the charging robot.